Highlander remade/reinvented?

[Stone]

Empire: Movie News - Highlander Remake Gets Iron Man Writers

If you can't be bothered opening the link basically hollywood remaking Highlander with the writers from Iron Man supposedly doing the script.

Thoughts? My first was WHY? I really think the original is a classic of its time and yes for all its faults it is what it is and i'm not sure i can see someone else other than Lambert in the role.

However, in saying that the reinvention of Batman for example has been excellent - so jury still out for me i think.

 

[Perpetual Man]

This one caught me on two fronts.
Highlander (for all it's faults) is one of my favourite guilty pleasures. And I think one of the reasons it works so well is all the different things being thrown at the screen. Individually most of them should not work, but together - it's a kind of magic.

Lambert should not have worked, but his accent is so all over the place that it is either inept, or a man who is from 'lots of different places'

Clancy Brown steals the show as the Kurgan. The story is different, for the time, and everything is topped off with the Queen soundtrack...

So remaking it fills me with dread. But...

I started thinking about all the terrible sequels, and then there is the television series, that started quite averagely and then developed into something quite special, until it stumbled on into the realm of movies and went down hill..

So a remake I'm not so sure, but if the TV series was a reinterpretation another universe as it were, then this new movie could be another fourth (there was a cartoon series) universe...

Perhaps I'm intrigued after all

 

[Talysia]

Yes, I think the jury would be out for me, too. I'll be in the "wait and see" camp, although I don't like the current trend towards remakes.

 

[Dave]

There can be only one!

 

[Overread]

There can be only one!

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!
There thats better
I hate remakes - I hate them because they are more often not made by a fan for the fans but as a money spinner for the box office hits for a week and then followed by a swift death.
It might be good, but it won't be Highlander - the story will be cut to ribbons - the actors different - the action all CGI (cheap CGI at that)
BAH go make something new Hollywoo!

 

[Dave]

Overread - Don't loose your head!

 

[nj1]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!

Highlander is one of my all time fav films, if it's on TV you can guarantee that I'll watch it, I hate to think what the remake will be like, it's bad enough that my better half believes that highlander 2 is better than the first (don't ask) and enjoys the TV series aswell (yes she is deranged) but if she manages to watch the remake and enjoys it then I hate to think of the arguments that'll follow.

 

[daisybee]

I loved Highlander, but despite C Lambert-he just put me right off. Now it would seem weird without him.

It would be cool to see what they did with it, if only to erase those awful sequels from memory.

The tv show did become fairly watchable after a shaky start, although Adrian Paul and those fab costumes in the flashbacks may have caused some bias on my part...LOL.

 

[Quokka]

I'm a little suprised in that my first impression is that it might actually be worth remaking. I loved the original Highlander and I doubt I'll even like the remake all that much but in the end it'll be over 20 years since the first Highlander and those horrible, horrible, horrible sequels have hurt the series so much that I think a complete restart is really the only way to go.


and at least this time they'll know there will be sequels and so they'll leave themselves some openings for them. Highlander wrapped everything up so well that there was just nowhere to go afterwards, that was great for a stand alone movie but if they're going to make them anyway...

 

[murphy]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!

Highlander is one of my all time fav films, if it's on TV you can guarantee that I'll watch it, I hate to think what the remake will be like, it's bad enough that my better half believes that highlander 2 is better than the first (don't ask) and enjoys the TV series aswell (yes she is deranged) but if she manages to watch the remake and enjoys it then I hate to think of the arguments that'll follow.

Probably because Adrian Paul is so much more droolworthy than Christopher Lambert.

 

[Momoka]

No, no, no - it *definitely* wasn't broke, so they shouldn't fix it!

Apart from 'Highlander: The Source' and 'Highlander II' the rest were enjoyable and the original is still one of my favourite movies.

I also managed to stay the course for the full series, though I think they lost the plot somewhat around the sixth season... and don't get me started on the spin-off catastrophe that was 'Highlander: The Raven' >_<

Being a fan I will inevitably watch it though, like I have done with the Dr Who 're-envision' and will do with the new Star Trek movie... It remains to be seen if I'll like it as much as the original though.

Oh, and hello all. First post for the win

/me waves at forum

 

[daisybee]

Hi momoka-welcome aboard!

waves back.

 

[Delvo]

Lambert should not have worked, but his accent is so all over the place that it is either inept, or a man who is from 'lots of different places'

He was born in the USA with a French father, spent most of his childhood in Switzerland, and went to a school in France as a teenager. There's also an Argentine connection in there somewhere that I've forgotten the details of, probably that his mother was from there.

 

[Momoka]

Well, I still thought Lambert was cute.. but I also thought Methos was the best Immortal Showed his age a bit in the forth movie though.

And hello daisybee ^_^

 

[Highlander II]

I'd rather they don't do a 'remake'. Why 'recast' Connor MacLeod? The series successfully introduced a whole HOARDE of new immortals. There can be others as the lead. There can even be other MacLeods - just not Connor.

I love the first movie, have a special fondness for the second (obviously *g*), hate the rest. The third is a horribly daft retelling of the first one - don't believe me? Go watch again. The scene w/ the kid at the end is almost IDENTICAL to the scene w/ Brenda at the end of the first one. Endgame - doesn't exist. There is so much 'out of character' action going on that it makes me want to cry. And The Source - *insert laugh track here*. That is the WORST Highlander ANYTHING ever.

There was that anime-like bit they did - forgot what it was called, but that was way cooler than either of the last two films.

If they want to try again - they need to keep with the original 'flavor' of the Highlander vision (aka: talk to Gregory Widen - duh!) and don't try to recast Connor MacLeod. Chris will always be Connor and Highlander fans of all ages will spit nails if that's changed.

The one positive in this is that now that Bill Panzer isn't part of the scene any longer, maybe the writing team will be able to focus on someone who *isn't* Duncan MacLeod.

 

[Highlander II]

He was born in the USA with a French father, spent most of his childhood in Switzerland, and went to a school in France as a teenager. There's also an Argentine connection in there somewhere that I've forgotten the details of, probably that his mother was from there.

Adding to this - Highlander was the first fully English-speaking role Chris had. He had to learn English for Connor MacLeod and they wanted him to have a 'non-distinct' accent; so what Chris learned for Highlander kind of stuck for everything else he did in English.

 

[Nesacat]

The original movie is one I love. There's nothing wrong with it. It's wonderful as it is. I don't see why they have to go and remake it. Why do they need to remake it? They could use the concept and make their own movie with something to explain why there is now a new Highlander perhaps.

 

[Highlander II]

I don't understand the need for all of these remakes period. Very rarely are they done well. I can think of one that was even close - Sabrina - the new one is as good as the original.

Now, if they do something similar to that, maybe a new Highlander movie would work. I just think a lot of fans will be highly opposed to a 'new' Connor MacLeod.

 

[Quokka]

But we're not the target audience are we and after 20+ years if you're not a fan now odds are you won't become one. Like I posted earlier the original is one of my favourite movies and I'm sure the new one will suck but still I think Highlander is as good a candidate for a remake as any film.

Decent remakes are certainly in the minority (especially if you take out remakes of the old B&W movies) but there are a few, Gone in 60 Seconds wasn't a great movie by any stretch but I thought it was entertaining enough for a pop corn flick and it's better then the original which spends the first half setting up a 40 minute car chase.

 

[Highlander II]

Is it possible they can pull this off and accomplish two things: hold on to the existing fan base and bring on new fans? Sure. Anything is possible.

Is it likely? Not so much.

Picking up Highlander to make a new movie isn't much different from picking up, say, the X-Men comics and making a movie. They'll have to dig in and grab up the mythos (not to be confused with Methos) and the history and not violate the existing "canon" of the stories. Now, they may 'start over' and go back to the beginning, or they may attempt to incorporate the existing series and movie franchises together, mix well and pour over ice. No idea.

Of course, it's also possible that the project won't ever get green-lighted and we won't see anything.

I'm not jumping up and down saying 'NO! Don't make another one!'. I'm just saying 'If you're gonna try to pull this off, take the time, do the research and do it right.'